The Children Make Minor Adjustments

the children make minor adjustments

soothing the dolls when they feel frightened themselves

singing small songs to keep the fears at bay

learning what not and finally, what to say;

dreaming of snow.

the children don't know what they don't know

that on the fairy tale path the bread crumbs

will be swallowed whole

by the same small birds that sang to them at home

but they go on alone yet not alone

making their small adjustments as the days tick by

farther and father from the green trees side

oh to the soul that has long been in the city pent

my mother quoted Keats to me in one last lament

or some bright amethyst approximation

knowing I would remember

when she had gone 

the nightingale, yes, and the nightingale's song.

mary angela douglas 24 october 2020